In a major relief to the Telangana government, the Centre has increased its IAS cadre strength from the existing 208 to 218. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued a communication to this effect.
This increase was approved, as the state has been grappling with a shortage of IAS officers since its inception in June 2014 following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The Centre took almost two years to complete the distribution of IAS officers between the two states, and it was only in January 2016 that Telangana’s cadre strength was fixed at 163 officers. It was increased to 208 in April 2016.
The latest enhancement of ten officers has come after a gap of nearly ten years. But even this increase is not enough to lessen Telangana’s administrative woes, as only 171 IAS officers are currently working in the state cadre, leaving 47 posts vacant.
The state Chief Minister, A. Revanth Reddy, has been consistently pleading with the Centre to address the shortfall. During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi in March 2024, the CM had even submitted a representation seeking the allotment of 29 IAS officers to Telangana.
Though the Centre has now approved an increase of 10 posts, a considerable deficit between sanctioned and working strength continues to bother the state, as this shortage visibly impacts governance, particularly after the steep rise in the number of districts from 10 to 33.
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